John Seely Hart

“ Derrington, “as I must pass your door in going there, I may as well call for you in my carriage, whenever I do go.”
Mrs. Derrington was too happy at this unexpected glory; and Miss Waterly and Miss Milkby too envious. All these young ladies could do was to accompany Mrs. Prideaux when she departed, and be seen leaving the door at the same time with her. She honoured them with a bow as they lingered on the door-step, when her no-particular-sort-of-carriage drove away. Unluckily, there chanced to be no spectators but a small party of German emigrants, and two schoolboys. ”

“ It is not that sort of thing that brings people into society. It is mostly considered rather a draw back. Mrs. Goldsworth actually shuns people of genius. Indeed, most of my friends rather avoid them. I have no acquaintance whatever with any man or woman of genius.”
“I am sorry to hear it,” said Sophia. “I had hoped while in New York to meet many of those gifted persons whose fame has spread throughout our country, whom I already know by reputation, and whom I have long been desirous of seeing or hearing.”
“Oh, I suppose you mean lions,” said Mrs. Derrington. ”

“ Brockendale,” said Sophia, “her head reminds me of a lumber room, where all sorts of things are stowed away in confusion. My father thinks that a defective memory is generally the result of careless or inattentive observation. But perhaps this lady was never gifted with the capacity of seeing or hearing things understandingly.”
“I do not wonder that the daughter has no patience with the mother,” said Mrs. Derrington. “However, they are persons of birth, and live handsomely, and are visited. We cannot expect everybody in society to be alike. ”

“ I confess that some of the persons in society have done very bad things; which after the first few days it is best to hush up, for the honour of our class. But then in certain respects society is most exemplary. We always subscribe to public charities. Charity is very fashionable, and so is church.”
“And now,” continued Sophia, “to return to the lady who gave the party last night. Is not she a good and respectable woman?” ”

“ Do not you know that people of genius seldom live in any sort of style, or keep carriages, or give balls? And they never make fortunes; unless they are foreign musicians or dancers, and I am not sure that the singing and dancing people are classed as geniuses. They are regarded as something much better.”
“Is society composed entirely of people of fortune?” ”

“ Some went to see her out of curiosity; and some because they have an insatiable desire for enlarging their circle; some because they have a passion for new people; and some because they like to go to houses where everything is profuse and costly, as is generally the case with parvenus.”
“And some, I hope,” said Sophia, “because they really like Mrs. Cotterell for herself.”
“She certainly is visited by a few very genteel people,” continued Mrs. Derrington, “and that has encouraged her to attempt a party last night. ”

“ That was what made them look so pretty. One thing I am certain of, the rooms were as light as day. There must have been five hundred candles.”
“There was not one,” said Miss Brockendale to Sophia. “The rooms were lighted entirely with gas.”
“Well, it might have been a sort of gas. I declare my head is always so filled with things of importance, that I have no memory for trifles. This I know, that the furniture was all crimson velvet trimmed with gold-colour.”
“It was blue satin damask trimmed with a rich dark brown,” said her daughter to Miss Fayland. ”

“ When she came home, the fame of all these beautiful things spread beyond the limits of her own circle, and we were all dying to see them (particularly the evening costumes) , and to borrow them as patterns for our own mantuamakers and milliners. But while she continued meandering about among her own set, we had no chance of seeing much more than the divine bonnet and pelisse she wore in Broadway, and they only whetted our appetite for the rest. So at one of Mrs. Hautonberg’s soirées, a coterie of us got together and settled the plan. ”

“ Cotterell and her daughter are rather presentable, and they are visited to a certain degree,” said Miss Rodwell; “and I understand that Mrs. Pelham Prideaux does think of calling on them. I knew that I should meet many of my friends, or of course, I could not have risked being there myself. But, under any circumstances, the company was too large to be select. A party can not be perfectly comme il faut, if it numbers more than fifty. Mrs. De Manchester says, that to have the very cream and flower of New York society, you must not go beyond thirty. ”

“ There are some coming in, and some going out all the time, and no one staying long. The guests are chiefly ladies; few gentlemen of this city having leisure for morning visits. Still every gentleman manages to honour a lady’s reception day with at least one call during the season. I suppose you had no such things as morning receptions at the fort?”
“No, indeed,” replied Sophia; “our mornings were always fully occupied in attending to household affairs, and doing the sewing of the family. ”

“ Brockendale, who was a most excellent man, and doated on his queer wife, and tried hard to improve her, died ten years ago, and since losing his guidance, she has talked more like a fool than ever. And worse than all, every article of her dress seems to be continually getting into disorder. As soon as her things are put right, they somehow get wrong again. ”

“ It might have been a match, for the young man will be a half-millionaire one of these days; but he has fits, and rolls down mountains. So that rather discouraged us, and we thought that nobody would ever marry him. ”

“ She played something on the harp, but nobody seemed to listen. I know that I was talking and laughing all the time, and so was every one else. People that are ill-dressed should never play on harps. It shows them too plainly.”
“And they should never go to parties either,” said Mrs. Derrington. “Poor Mrs. Crandon, has she no friend to tell her so? ”

“ So Isabella might as well have taken him.”
“My sister,” said Augustina, turning to Sophia, “is happily married to a man of sense, as well as of large fortune, and high respectability.”
“Mr. Van Valkenburgh,” pursued Mrs. Brockendale, “was telling how delightful he found the literary society of England. I wish I had been in it, when I was there. He became acquainted with them all. He even knew Shakspeare.”
“His plays, of course,” said Sophia.
“Oh! no, the man himself. Shakspeare called on him at the hotel, and left his card for Mr. ”